Sky Full of Stars
by ObsidianBlackCat
Summary: Danny has always loved the night sky. The stars were there when he was born, they were there when he died, and they would always be there. Sometimes he likes to think they're there for him. A collection of one-shots exploring different aspects of events and characters from the series. Latest: Boy and the Ghost - the Accident happens to a younger Danny, and things go differently.
1. Sky Full of Stars

Sky Full of Stars

**Fans of FiveRivers might notice that I was inspired by her work. I can't quite tell myself, but I might have mimicked her style.**

**Reviews are appreciated (this is the first Danny Phantom story I've published).**

* * *

Danny hovered high in the air. High enough that it almost felt like he was surrounded on all sides by the sky. All it took was a few minutes, a few miles, and he was far enough from the city to see the night sky in all of its glory.

It was a sky full of stars. Just utterly full of them. It was spectacular, amazing, ebullient.

He could remember when he first saw the sky like that. It was shortly after he had really gotten into astronomy around the age of seven. His parents were excited he was so passionate about something. They brought him onto one of their stakeouts. While they watched for La Llorona, Danny watched the sky.

Watching the stars now, he could remember that night very well. He could remember his obsession with everything space related.

It was a bit funny to think about now that he had a true Obsession.

The stars and their secrets were far below his highest priorities now. He had a town to protect, family and friends to spend time with, a Ghost Zone to explore. But it said something that he still made time to come out here from time to time. Even on hard nights, especially on hard nights, he still came to stare. He knew it wasn't an obsession anymore, it wasn't even much more than a very distant dream. There was no way he could work up his grades to be an astronaut, and he doubted he could stay away from Amity Park for long anyway. He had a calling now, and it wasn't the stars.

The stars were still so important to him though. He didn't even need to ask Jazz why.

When Danny had first started fighting ghosts, his Obsession had kind of caught him off guard. He had never been very obsessed with anything before the Accident except the stars. And, in all honesty, he hadn't been very dedicated to space aside from looking at it. Even before the Accident, his grades would have been lucky to get him as a janitor at NASA. That was when he realized the true difference between what he was and what he had been, _who_ he was and who he had been.

Danny really was a hero, someone who wanted to help everyone he could. He sometimes wanted to help people he couldn't, but he always tried. It was all a big bundle of need, love, worry, fear, and will. It was a fire that fueled him.

It had always fueled him, but never quite so literally.

But his love of space was nothing like that. It was calmer, more wondrous. It was a soup of dreams, desire, and hope. It was ineradicable, permanent, always there because the stars would always be there. (They didn't need to be saved or helped. They wouldn't betray him or hurt him.) But above all it was hope. It wasn't a fire. It was the wood and breath that kept the fire burning.

It was a symbol of his humanity.

Danny cherished the stars. They reminded him of who had been when he was fully human. They reminded him that he was hardly any different now as a half ghost. They reminded him that there was always hope. Wanting to help was hard sometimes. There were so many dangerous things in the world, dangerous people, dangerous ghosts. The stars helped him to stop and think, to realize that not everything ended in hurt and disaster. Without them, Danny sometimes wondered if he would have been even more tense and anxious than he already was. He wondered if he would have done something too drastic to keep everyone safe, particularly on those long nights when it felt like the world was against him. (He wondered if Dan had stopped looking at the stars in order to do all the awful things he had done. He wondered if Dan sometimes imagined stars in the pitch black of the Fenton thermos, hidden away in the depths of Clockwork's lair . . .)

Because now he knew where he was going, and the stars lit up the path, making it brighter than it might have been.


	2. Fairly Local

Fairly Local

**So this is not related to the Sky Full of Stars song. In fact, this one is inspired by Fairly Local by Twenty-One Pilots. I guess this will just turn into a collection of Danny Phantom one-shots. Would you guys want this collection to be entirely based on songs, or would you rather it be random one-shots?**

**Bear in mind I wrote this in about half an hour because I was bored and stuck with my other stories. I didn't really reread it so let me know if there are any errors.**

**This takes place right after The Ultimate Enemy.**

* * *

Danny walked down the street. _Walked_. Not flew. That was important. Important to him.

He walked down the streets of Amity Park. He knew them like the back of his hand. That's why it didn't take much thought to avoid the Nasty Burger. Or at least what was left of it.

He went in circles. Circles centered around the Fenton house. His parents were there. He was keeping a solid distance from them. He couldn't be in the same house as them right now, not when he was half ghost, not when they were _right_.

No, Jazz had firmly told him they were wrong. Everything she knew about human psychology, and everything she was learning about ghost psychology, made it very clear to her that ghosts were not inherently evil. They were more passionate, yes. One had to have some sort of obsession in order to have the will to turn into a ghost. But they were far from evil.

Even before she had begun looking into that, Danny had come to the same conclusion. It was hard not to when most of the ghosts acted so friendly in fights. Well, not friendly, but also not cruel. Aside from a few notable exceptions, no ghost had ever tried to really harm anyone in Amity Park. Even Ember had once said that she only hit Danny so hard because she knew he could handle it.

But now that had Danny thinking. What if Jazz was right about ghosts, but wrong about half-ghosts? What if the paradox of being dead and alive worked differently? They already knew that he was affected by certain things differently than both ghosts and humans. When in human form, some ghost weapons affected him but others didn't. Sometimes it was like he always felt a little bit ghostly, other times he felt as alive as everyone else. Many rules that governed ghosts and humans didn't apply to him.

What if psychology didn't either?

What if Vlad wasn't the product of years of simmering in isolation?

Danny's dad had to have a reason for being so ignorant of Vlad's loathing. Even his mother, who was usually much more observant, had taken a while to notice, and even then she never suspected him of much more than hitting on her.

Maybe he really had been nice before his accident. Before he began to use his ghost powers for personal gain. Before he tried to ruin Jack's life on more than one occasion.

Maybe it was only a matter of time, regardless of how he tried to keep his friends and family safe.

Danny's breath began to come in more jagged gasps. He stopped dead in his tracks, not even thinking about the pun.

He was evil in his core.

He already did things he shouldn't. He used his ghost powers at school all the time, and often for revenge.

Everyone said he was as caring and emotional as every other human, just like everyone thought Vlad was the greatest, but sometimes he acted so selfish. He had once overshadowed Dash and made him bang his head into the lockers multiple times, all just because Dash had picked on him again.

Danny didn't even notice when he stopped breathing.

Was that who he really was?

He truly didn't have a chance. Whether his family was safe or not, he would end up on the same road that led to Dan.

It would feel like repeating history.

Instead it would be him making history.

It would be under the genocide chapters of history books, if anyone lived to write more.

Danny finally took a breath, nearly gasping for air as he bolted down the street. Darting into an alley, he slid down one of the walls and hugged his knees to his chest.

It all felt so hopeless. Spectra must have known; she also knew psychology. That was why she had called him a freak. That was why her words always sounded so true. She had known he was doomed to follow one path. She always seemed to know everything.

Danny sniffed, pausing for a breath. Then he took another, slower breath. His grip on his knees loosened slightly.

Spectra obviously did _not_ know everything. He had caught her lying so many times.

But Danny knew someone who literally said they knew everything. Someone who was more than likely telling the truth.

Clockwork was Father Time. He saw all times in all timelines. Or something like that. Danny hadn't fully understood his explanation. But he saw things, and he had seen Dan and exactly the point in time Danny would become that monster. He of all people (and ghosts) knew if Danny was still going to become evil. And he had saved Danny's entire family. Someone as powerful and busy as Clockwork wouldn't have done that for no reason. He probably wouldn't have even wasted a glance had he known it would happen anyway.

Clockwork knew that Danny would stop, _had_ stopped himself from becoming Dan. He had known all along.

A small smile began to make its way onto Danny's lips.

He wasn't evil in his core.

He knew what was wrong, and he fought against any impulses most of the time. He hadn't even been entirely controlled by Freakshow's scepter that time. He had been the only one to fight it off.

He knew he felt emotions, he was scared and depressed right now for Clockwork's sake.

And he always wanted to help everyone, to save everyone he could.

Danny wiped his eyes, calming down.

_That's _who he was.

He truly did have a chance. He would continue to protect everyone just as he always had. He would demolish the road that led to Dan.

Dan _had_ happened, he _had_ destroyed so much.

Danny would always know that, so he would make sure it _never_ happened.

He stood and began to walk home. He'd have to ask his mom if they had any Excedrin. All this time talk was giving him a headache.

* * *

Clockwork settled back in his chair, moving back to what he had been doing before he had started to watch Daniel Fenton. He knew nearly everything, which was why he knew there was still a very small, fractional chance that another Dan, or maybe something worse, could still happen. It had taken all his power to remain calm, to prevent himself from taking action before it was needed. That would have only attracted the Observant's attention.

But Daniel had steered himself away from the darkness.

Clockwork smiled as he watched the boy run home as the probabilities of tragedy shifted back to near zero.

It was always a relief when a paradox resolved itself.

He just wished he knew what was going through Daniel's mind when he decided to fight for the brightest future possible.

Mind-reading had never been one of Clockwork's gifts.


	3. Green-Eyed Monster

Green-Eyed Monster

**This one is loosely based off of Sky Full of Stars again (honestly, only one line uses one tiny part of the lyrics). And I made so many references to events in the series in this one. I hope I got the facts right. I imagine this taking place after the third season (whether you choose to acknowledge the existence of Phantom Planet is up to you) and Danny and Sam have been dating for a bit.**

"At this point, we really should have expected this." Sam glared at the dense cover of gray clouds over their heads.

Danny looked back at her, gently fixing his grip on her waist as they flew over the treetops. He knew he didn't really need to avoid the branches since they were already intangible to avoid the rain, but this was still supposed to be a date. Even if their original plan was washed out, they could still enjoy a smooth flight through the country. "I thought you preferred dark and stormy over anything else."

"Not when we could have been watching a meteor shower. Are you sure you don't want to fly over the clouds to see it? This jacket is pretty thick."

Danny shook his head. "The air is way too thin up there. You might pass out."

"But you've been looking forward to this for months! And I bet it has something to do with Vortex's little visit last week."

"Don't worry, another meteor shower is going to happen up north next month. It would take a few hours to get there, but we can take the Specter Speeder. I'll even ask Dani to cover for me. Let's focus on tonight for now, though. Isn't the Skulk & Lurk having another poetry reading?"

"But this is your week to pick. At least choose something you want to do."

"I can be dark and brooding too. I don't just dream of the empty void of death, I _saw_ it." Danny glanced back at Sam again, regretting the joke. Sam still wasn't very fond of death jokes. Now she was frowning, but she didn't look too upset. Then again, even with the ability to taste emotions, Danny had some trouble reading her sometimes.

"Don't even try to pull that with me. Poetry is definitely not your thing. Although I'd feel much prouder bringing you there than Kwan." She shuddered. "How did you even manage to help me get back in there."

"It wasn't hard. I didn't even really need to overshadow anyone. I just told them your mom forced him to follow you around."

"That does sound like something she would do. God, I hope she never actually meets Kwan. He's like the son she's always wanted."

Danny hummed thoughtfully. "Huh, I never noticed that before." Eyeing the clouds, he gently sped up their flight. It was getting darker, and the distinct charge of a thunderstorm was noticeable in the air. Granted, they were currently intangible, but lightning was one thing that could still slightly affect them. At least, that was Danny's experience; he couldn't really be sure if it was his mind playing tricks on him.

He tended to overreact around electricity.

"So what do you really want to do?" Sam asked again. "I'm up for anything as mundane as a restaurant or as crazy as a trip to the GZ."

Danny thought for a second. "Well, some of the ghosts we know are kind of busy this week. It's too cold in the Far Frozen. And Dora is in the middle of renovating her castle to have electric lights. She doesn't want anyone to see until she's done."

"Didn't she manage to get Technus to help her?"

"Yeah, he was actually super excited to build their new system from scratch. Dora's made sure to keep an eye on him though. She told him that she's grateful that he's willing to help lead them into an Industrial Revolution, but she's not above pummeling him back into the Dark Ages if he dares to try anything."

Sam laughed. Danny enjoyed the sound quite a bit.

Then the flash of light blinded them for a second. Then the thunder rang in their ears.

Danny didn't like that sound at all.

"Wow, good thing that wasn't too close," Sam said as the ringing in their ears decreased. "Um, I think I saw a pit stop for hikers somewhere around here. It's a small cabin. We can wait in there until the storm dies down."

"That could take a while. I can fly us back to Amity before the night is over if you don't mind going a bit fast."

"This is your night off. You're supposed to relax, not tire yourself out. You've already been keeping us both intangible for a while."

"It'll just take like half an hour tops. I've flown intangible for way longer than that," Danny practically whined.

There was another flash and another boom. Danny tried not to squeeze Sam too tight as he tensed up. Her gentle voice helped.

"Danny, come on, we'll wait it out. We'll have a good old-fashioned night of talking and doing nothing." She smirked. "Tucker would cry if he was here."

"Only if you managed to get his five PDAs away from him."

"Four. 'Lucy' got squished by that big dinosaur ghost."

"Oh, that's right. He's still mourning for that one, isn't he?"

Danny flew down to ground level. They weren't far from the hiking path. He called a ball of glowing ectoplasm into his hand so Sam could see better, and she guided him to the pit stop. He turned invisible to peek inside. Once he was sure they weren't going to scare the wits out of any random hikers, he phased them into the cabin, setting Sam on her feet.

"Cool, it looks like no one's been in here for months." She stamped her boots, sending a small cloud of dust in the air. A small glowing ball of fur darted out from under a table and straight through the opposite wall. "Huh, I guess the animal ghosts have been spreading out. We're pretty far from Amity Park. Maybe that explains why this is abandoned. Everyone's afraid of ghost squirrels."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Some of the squirrel ghosts actually are kind of feisty. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them were run over by cars and want revenge on humans or something."

Sam punched him lightly on the arm. "Stop saying things like that! It jinxes us at least half of the time."

Silence for a beat. Then Danny started laughing. "I wonder when our lives got to the point that we're afraid of causing an attack of vengeful ghost squirrels just by talking about it."

"Probably sometime after you spent the weekend at the castle of your parents' old friend who's hung up on your mom, but before we travelled cross country collecting magical jewels for a reality warping glove during a nonexistent summer."

Danny snorted. "You make that stuff sound . . . Well, no, they're both as weird as they sound." He sighed, settling down on the dusty floor with his back against a wooden wall. The cabin became blindingly bright for a second as he shifted out of his ghost form. "The really funny part about Vlad is that I can't entirely blame ghostly weirdness for making him a crazed fruitloop. He probably would've been just as crazy and creepy even if he hadn't become half ghost."

Sam blinked the spots out of her eyes and settled down next to the boy she had once feared would be clueless forever. "Well, the same goes for you. You didn't change at all. Except . . ."

"What?"

"You got a really cool dye job. White looks awesome on you."

Danny rolled his eyes, but grinned. "I guess I do look pretty good in ghost form."

"You look good enough in both forms in my opinion. It's just a different color scheme to be honest."

"And rubber HAZMAT."

She rolled her eyes. "_And_ rubber HAZMAT, which has a cool design thanks to yours truly."

"Right, thanks for that. I just wish we could have trademarked it before they started putting it on merchandise. Dash and Paulina have spent hundreds on that stuff by now." Danny frowned. "I think Tucker actually sold them some of the pictures they've put all over their lockers."

"So that's why he voluntarily puts his PDAs in harm's way during your fights," Sam mused. "And how he also has the money to replace them."

"I told him I'm fine with him doing it as long as he stays a safe distance away. He's shopping around for a camera with a good zoom feature now." Danny shrugged. "I mean, it's a way I can repay him for all those PDAs that got smashed when we first started. And also his Flour Power daycare business."

Sam crossed her arms. "That was _not_ a daycare. That was the cheapest money-making scheme he's ever come up with. And he completely _ignored_ Lilith!" She took a breath, glancing over at Danny after her brief outburst. "But yeah, he did lose a lot of money and respect that day."

They sat in silence for a while. Sam sighed contentedly, fiddling with the zipper of Danny's jacket. She exuded a calmness they hadn't felt in a few weeks now. It was almost reassuring, but Danny's mind kept going back to the first part of their conversation, the part about Vlad.

It had taken him over a year to realize the connection, the similarities. The word 'fruitloop' felt bitter on his tongue ever since.

There was such a fine line between love and fruitloops.

Vlad was insanely in love with Maddie. He was outraged when Jack got her instead. He had stalked Jack, and plotted to get him out of the picture. He had even gotten a cat as Danny had jokingly suggested, and named her Maddie.

Just the other day, when Danny and Tucker had been making the same corny jokes about Vlad, it hit him.

He had done half of those things the previous year.

Danny was insanely in love with Sam, even if it took years for him to realize it. Then Gregor had come along. Danny had _stalked_ them on their dates. Granted, he had thought that the liar had been a spy sent by the GIW, but he had _stalked_ them _every _night they went out. That wasn't a normal thing to do, even if he had been worried about her safety. In fact, if his suspicions had been right, following them would really have been a bad idea. Sam would never have told him she was friends with Danny Phantom, but even the GIW would have noticed he was following her everywhere.

Ancients, that would have been a disaster. They would have turned Sam's life upside down if they had suspected any sort of connection.

What had he been thinking?

And on top of that, if the GIW hadn't scared 'Gregor' into revealing his lies . . .

Danny had been considering a few plots.

Nothing serious, nothing remotely as insane as Vlad's ideas, but he had thought of purposefully breaking them up. On more than one occasion too.

He hadn't really understood his ghost powers too well then. He could say that he had been able to tell Gregor was lying. They had noticed that Danny could 'taste' emotions shortly after.

But Danny knew those were just excuses.

He had almost made a huge mistake, a mistake that might have cost him the love of his life. The only consolation was the key word: almost. He hadn't actually gone through with those ideas. And he hadn't ended up with a cat.

Danny was _not_ a fruitloop.

But he could have been, and that made him feel just a little more empathetic towards Vlad. Only a little; Vlad had done too much wrong to gain anything close to forgiveness. But Danny had more understanding than he once had.

And really, Vlad had hardly been different even in a universe where he married Maddie.

They just didn't really belong together.

Danny was more than certain he belonged with Sam. There was something about her that grounded him. He loved her so much, but he would never become a Vlad towards her. He loved her too much to do that to her.

A flash of lightning lit up the cabin again. Sam began rubbing his arm before the thunder boomed.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to see the meteors today," she said, looking up at him. He smiled back in that way he did when he thought of a good pun.

"Don't be. I've got the best view in the world."

She raised an eyebrow. "Could you get any cornier?"

"What? You're my own sky full of stars." He sighed dramatically. "What a heavenly view."

"Because I wear mostly black that's only pierced by my bright smile?"

"I was going to say that you're full of endless mystery and beauty, but sure."

"Ooh, no I like yours better." She squeezed him close. "Who would have thought you could use your prowess at puns to say such romantic things?"

"I thought you liked my puns."

"I always have."

"Even the corny ones?"

She pulled his face closer to hers. "They're all corny."

"No they're—" He was interrupted by a kiss. "No, you're right, I'm always corny."

She pulled away with a smile. "I thought so."


	4. The Jazz Blues

The Jazz Blues

**Wow, it's been a while. It's just life, you know? I wasn't finding as much inspiration for a while.**

**This is the first story that's not directly inspired by a song. Don't ask why that even was the theme for a while. I guess it just helped me stay on track? And I thought it made them feel more cinematic.**

**As you might guess, this one's all about Jazz. Sometimes she gets a little tired of being outdone by her little brother. As always, reviews are appreciated!**

* * *

Jazz could tell you the exact moment the realization hit her. She studied psychology after all; it would be more embarrassing if she didn't keep track of her own mental processes.

She had been driving to school. It was a fairly average day. Danny had chosen to fly to school and look for a particularly bothersome salesman ghost before class started. Jazz was worried she or his friends would have to make up another excuse for tardiness so he didn't get detention again. That was when she noticed how lucky her little brother was to have such good friends, both alive and dead. She had always known he was an amiable boy, and now he had succeeded in befriending a large portion of the Ghost Zone. Leave it to Danny to have as many friends as he had enemies.

It was then, as she was waiting to enter the parking lot, that the thought struck her. If she bothered calling it a thought, that is. It was more like a rush of mental images and emotions. But of course she tried to put it into words as best she could.

Now that she was aware of her little brother's secrets, she knew he wasn't as alone as some kids at school thought. She didn't have to worry about his social life anymore (although the rest of his 'half-life' was worrisome enough).

But what about her own?

Jazz hardly had any friends. She spent her days studying, playing psychologist for the more troubled kids at school, and making sure the rest of her family didn't get into too much trouble. Most of the names on her contacts list were acquaintances or 'patients'.

When had she, the most normal Fenton, become the least popular?

But she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about this. Was she fine with it? Was she jealous? She felt too conflicted to say. Jazz needed to perform a full self-evaluation to understand. And that was why she was here at her desk, Bearbert Einstein clutched to her chest, tracing back her train of thought. It went back very far. She would need to reanalyze her past if she wanted to understand her current emotions.

Her parents had always encouraged the search for knowledge, even if they often steered them in the direction of the paranormal. Danny had grown fond of space at a young age. Jazz had been more curious about terrestrial things, namely people. She always saw so many different reactions when the whole family went out, or even when she just told someone her last name was Fenton. There were wide eyes and pursed lips and raised eyebrows, and her parents were usually so oblivious of it all. Whenever Jazz asked, her dad would say everyone was astounded by their 'Fenton Genius'. Her mother said everyone felt differently about ghosts. Jazz wanted to know why, so she picked up her first psychology textbook when she was eleven and was hooked.

It all became so clear after that. Clear, and just a little bit sad. She began to recognize the bafflement, the doubt, the disdain everyone regarded her family with. She understood why; there were so many experiments that described how unwilling people were to accept something so different and radical. She understood how some people felt about death and ghosts. And she admired her parents' ability to push past that. Not once did they ever question their life choices, even when everyone else did.

Knowing psychology had been very helpful as she grew. School was so full of peer pressure, and being a Fenton in high school before the ghost attacks started was harder than Danny knew. At least now the citizens of Amity Park were at least a little grateful for the Fenton's expertise, but everyone had just thought they were crazy then. Jazz was grateful she had gone through it first, even if her little brother became a target anyway. He had always been . . . not more sensitive, but he always wanted to fit in. When Jazz had first started high school, there was no way any of the cool kids were going to befriend a Freaky Fenton, even before everyone learned of her nerdy nature.

But not even the uncool kids had been her friend. At least, not any of the ones in her year. She had briefly been friends with a senior who had also gone almost their entire four years of high school without friends, but they had since graduated. They still text and called occasionally, but now they were at a university.

Aside from her family, Jazz was pretty much alone. Always had been, always will. That wouldn't have been odd for a Fenton. Danny had seemed doomed to the same fate, until the Accident at least.

Who would have thought half-dying in a portal would open up so many doors for him?

(Jazz internally winced at the unintended pun. Where were these pun-making skills when she actually needed them?)

And though people didn't always think her parents were sane, Jack and Maddie still knew nearly everyone in town and were on speaking (or yelling) terms with about a third.

So Jazz, the one without an obsession with ghosts, the one who wasn't a half-ghost, the one who wasn't a goth or a techno-geek, was the one who hardly spoke to anyone in the tiny town of Amity Park. Unless she was trying to psychoanalyze them, of course, but very few people even appreciated that.

Jazz sighed and flipped Bearbert around so he was looking her in the eyes. Now that she was done processing the thoughts that had led her to this moment, she could finally ask herself:

So now what?

Was she okay with this continuing, or did she want to . . . what? Make friends? If so, what kind of friend? An acquaintance, or the kind of best buddies that Danny had in Sam and Tucker?

Jazz stared into Bearbert's shiny but scratched glass eyes for a long time.

It was really hard to come to a definite conclusion.

On one hand, she was kind of jealous of the friendships around her. On the other hand, she really didn't care. Her life had been like this for so long, and it wasn't like she was a hermit. All she was missing was the close bond of a best friend that knew all her secrets. And, to be honest, those were hard to find at her age.

Was there anything she even could do?

"_Jazz is a spazz!"_

She jumped about a mile out of her seat before she realized Danny wasn't actually there. She stalked over to her bed and grabbed her phone off the sheets. Danny must have sneaked into her room last night and changed her ringtone. Again. She rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath as she unlocked her phone.

Jazz had considered putting up a mini ghost shield inside her room several times, but she didn't want to lock her little brother out when he got himself into so much trouble so often. She was more than a little alarmed at all the times he had been in danger inside his own house. If he got shrunk or split in two again, he needed someone nearby to go to.

She looked at the text. It was from Spike. A few years ago, his texts had been long and downright depressing. He was, after all, one of the most goth kids in Casper High aside from Sam. He had been one of Jazz's first steady 'patients', and one of her more successful ones at that. Now he wore black clothes and chains simply because he had grown fond of the style, and his texts weren't cries for help. Today he wanted to tell her about the awesome psycho-thriller he had seen last night. Jazz smiled as she recognized the movie title and responded enthusiastically.

It was then, as she waited for the text to send, that the thought struck her.

She did have friends, people that she enjoyed talking to very much. While she had gotten to know many students that she helped, some of them had gotten to know her. They may not know her deepest secrets, but they _knew_ her, and they chose to talk to her. And honestly, that's all Jazz really wanted. She didn't need any more people who knew Danny's secrets (who would be just as worried and focused on him as she was). She needed people who just knew her and were willing to talk about whatever. Maybe it was a little selfish, but Danny already had his friends.

And now Jazz knew she had her own.

"Jazz!" Danny's angry voice sounded muffled through the wall. "Did you take all the brownies?!"

Jazz rushed to her desk to finish the last of the evidence. She typed out another text with her other hand, thanking Spike for the advice on revenge.

Yup, life was good right now. Life was good.


	5. Boy and the Ghost

Boy and the Ghost

**It's been a while. This story has been sitting on my computer most of that time, mocking me for being unable to finish it. Now I did, and I am happy.**

**This one is also inspired by a song, Boy and the Ghost by Tarja. It goes with the more serious parts of the show so well. Look it up if you need a good sad song.**

* * *

The lab was empty. The house was where everyone else was, safe and warm.

Danny took a deep breath as he raised his shaking hand to check the door again.

It was definitely locked.

He called for someone to let him out, but Daddy was talking. His booming voice never stopped.

Danny ran that same shaking hand through his hair. He knew he wasn't supposed to come into the lab, not without adult supervision. Although Mommy sometimes said that they couldn't be in here if only Daddy was home either. But he had left his toy in the lab earlier. He had to get it before dinner. It was Thanksgiving. He couldn't leave Teddy Fenton all alone on Thanksgiving.

Danny pulled the stuffed bear away from his chest and glared at it. Its eyes were the only part of the bear he could really see in the darkness; they reflected the small blinking green lights of the machinery.

This was Teddy's fault. And Danny wasn't even as obsessed with his Teddy as Jazz was. He hadn't given _his_ bear some weird scientist name. Bearbert wasn't even a real name. Teddy was. Teddy was like the old president, Mommy said.

Mommy was going to be so upset when she found him down here.

Taking deep breaths so he didn't cry like a little baby, Danny hugged Teddy Fenton close again. It wasn't entirely Teddy's fault anyway. Danny was the one who had decided to use the opportunity to play Mission Control with the lab stuff. Daddy liked to make the buttons look so fun and . . . pressable! Danny had enjoyed pressing everything.

At least until the lights went out.

Filling his lungs to full capacity, Danny tried calling his parents again. It probably didn't help that the door was so thick. Mommy and Daddy had made it that way to be safe, but now they couldn't hear him.

Wait, was that—? Danny perked up. He could hear yelling from the other side of the door. It sounded like everyone was yelling. Had they noticed he was missing? Were those footsteps he heard? Did Daddy . . . did Daddy just say 'ghost turkey'?

The commotion continued, now accompanied by bangs and thumps. Danny sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. What was he going to do? If there really was a ghost in the house, it would take a really long time for Mommy and Daddy to catch it. And they would probably go upstairs to the weapons' vault. He was stuck down here for a while, alone.

That's how it usually was, wasn't it? Except Mommy and Daddy were usually the ones locked in the lab while Danny got himself into trouble around the house. Jazz went to school now, so she wasn't even around to play with in the mornings. It was just Danny and his imagination. He didn't mind it. Too much. There was plenty of cool stuff around the house to play with. And astronauts had to be alone in space for a long time. Danny liked to think he was preparing himself for space.

He didn't like to think he was already alone in the universe.

With the darkness and the softly blinking lights, that's what it felt like now.

All he wanted was for Mommy to get him out of here, or for Daddy's bright orange jumpsuit to light up the room.

Danny opened his eyes determinedly, even if he could hardly tell the difference. If pressing buttons had gotten him into this mess, then pressing buttons could get him out. Probably. Maybe. They might at least turn the lights back on. And hopefully, with some luck, he could find the Ghost Exodus alarm. It would scare Mommy and Daddy, but at least then they could find him. Then they could have Thanksgiving dinner as a family.

Using his hands to feel the way forward, Danny slowly made his way back down the steps. The good thing about his parents' lab was that there were a lot of glowing light sources, even if they were little. Beakers of ectoplasm and other little gadgets glowed in neon greens and pinks. It wasn't nearly enough to get around safely though. More than once Danny tripped on something his Daddy had probably left lying around. He hoped he didn't set off any of the ecto-guns. They stung.

Proceeding with more caution, Danny's fingers searched for any buttons within reach. He wasn't finding as many as he had pressed before though. Was he at a different counter? He didn't remember the room being so big.

Danny was stumbling more now. Why did it feel like there was a mess of wires on the floor? The lab was never really clean, but Mommy never left huge messes around for long. He stretched his arms out, trying to find something sturdy he could hold onto to stop himself from falling.

Ah, here was a button.

The light was so bright and sudden it was painful. But it was too bright for his eyes to adjust. He shut his eyes tight, but it didn't matter. There was light anyway. And pain. Pain. Pain! PAIN!

What few coherent thoughts were left in Danny's mind disjointed. He couldn't tell where in the world he was. Was there even a world at this point? There was only pain.

Some small part of his brain noticed he was screaming, and he wondered if maybe now Mommy could hear his cries.

It hurt. It hurt so much . . .

He screamed and screamed and screamed . . .

0o0

The green blast of light was powerful enough to be seen across most of the Infinite Realms. That was concerning. Clockwork couldn't see any great catastrophe in the immediate future, but Time had just taken a sharp and rather improbable turn. He turned on another of his screens, honing in on the exact point this anomaly had occurred. But it refused to work. Something was interfering with Time there. Something was happening to the Space in that spot, pushing Time out by effect.

This was common for portals, but no portal had ever shone so brightly before. At least, not a natural one.

What a curious development. Clockwork hadn't been surprised in eons.

A rare occasion, he left his lair to investigate with his own two eyes. He was careful to open his own portal a safe distance away. Even a Master of Time did his best not to tempt Fate.

This close to the anomaly, the brightness made it nearly impossible to see. That would have been a problem, if ghosts didn't have many more ways to sense their surroundings. Clockwork floated toward it slowly.

There was no crowd of curious passerby, and it was immediately noticeable why: there was the stench of Death in the ectoplasm. And yet . . . Clockwork tilted his head. There was a strong sense of Life as well.

What could it be?

Closer he went, and he saw blue ozone mixed in with the green, which was exceptionally odd. Ozone was only found in the Infinite Realms when powerful enough ghosts weren't careful with their lightning. Could an extremely powerful ghost have had a fight here? Or perhaps Ended? But then where was the Life coming from?

Closer.

Were those snowflakes? Yes, there was quite a bit of snow floating around.

Closer still.

He could feel Time constricting, nearly stopping. Directly in front of him was the wall of newly created Space that was so dense it wouldn't let him See past it. He was at the origin of whatever had happened here. The green light emanated right from this spot.

It was, in fact, a portal. And it wasn't a natural one, as he had suspected. But still, why? How?

The dense wall of Space that was the surface of the portal may have stopped Time in its tracks, but it was nothing to a ghost, even one closely connected to Time. Clockwork saw that he would come out safely sometime later (was there someone exiting with him?), and slipped right in.

Inside there was more green light, ozone, and snow. But behind all of that there appeared to be solid surfaces. Metal? Wires? Was Technus experimenting again? Clockwork had had to stop him the last time he tried to build a Time Machine.

And then his ghostly tail flicked against something icy cold. He looked down.

There, in the green, on the barely visible metal floor, lay a child. His skin was tan and raw. It smoked slightly in places. His hair was a shock of white that blended in with the pure snow that fell all around him. His clothes were charred to black. Clockwork's shoulders sagged in the ghostly equivalent of a sigh.

So _this_ was where the sense of Death was coming from.

Clockwork leaned down, wondering if the child's ghost would last. He seemed stable enough, core already active inside. And there was plenty of ectoplasm around to draw on. Yes, aside from recently dying, he seemed in fine shape. His chest was even moving.

Wait, what?

Upon closer inspection, Clockwork realized the boy really was breathing. Slowly, yes. Shallowly, yes. But he was breathing. Touching a gloved finger to the boy's neck proved his heart was beating at a similar pace.

The boy's Life had not yet left him despite how solidly Death had settled in.

Clockwork hadn't seen such a thing in—well, honestly, he had seen something similar just over a decade or so ago. But that hadn't been nearly as interesting as this. This boy had essentially died, and yet he hadn't truly died. He had a body and he had a ghost, a ghost that was already strong and stable enough to create snow and stabilize this portal. Clockwork wondered if he would have the ability to create his own portals. No other child ghost had ever been capable of such a thing.

A child with power over Life, Death, Ice, and Space . . .

What a frightening thought.

Clockwork's view was limited without his equipment, but he glimpsed two main paths the future might take.

In one, he left and the boy was discovered by his family. They would continue to love him, but that love would drive them in all the wrong directions. They would try to 'help' him, to destroy his ghost. That path grew darker and dimmer the further Clockwork followed it.

In the other path, Clockwork took the child back to his lair. He would teach him all that he knew. The boy would become his apprentice of sorts. There would be tough days when the boy missed his family, when he wondered what good his human half was. There would be ghosts who would agree he was a freak, who would want him Ended for it . . .

And yet, that path was far brighter than the first.

And even then, Clockwork hesitated.

He had never attempted to raise a child before. Watching other parents, it had always seemed like such a disastrous bore. But if Time would be better for it . . . If he could prevent some awful paradoxes just by doing this one thing . . .

Perhaps it would be fun, to be a Master of Time training a Master of Space. Space and Time were so closely linked, after all. Clockwork could already feel the tug on his core, the desire to help this child.

He picked the boy up, carefully, flying him through the side of the portal that would take them back to the Infinite Realms. As they left, the light went out. The portal was no longer stable without the powerful source of Life and Death.

Back in the Material Plane, the burnt remains of a teddy bear fell to the floor. A man yelled, "I caught the turkey! Who wants the drumstick?" And the lab door opened to reveal a concerned woman.

"Danny? Are you down here?"


End file.
